Navy Partially Lifts Ban On Firing Guns

June 13, 1989|By MELISSA HEALY Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — In an indication that equipment failure is no longer considered a prime suspect in the April explosion aboard the battleship Iowa, the Navy has partially lifted its ban on the firing of battleships' 16-inch guns, sources said Monday.

The firing moratorium, imposed a day after a blast ripped through a 16-inch gun turret aboard the Iowa April 19, has been modified to permit the use of the guns in wartime, for self-defense and during operations designed to send political signals to foreign nations, according to Navy officials.

A naval commander also would be permitted to order firing of the 16-inch guns at special training exercises for a crew being sent on a potentially hazardous operation overseas.

The captains of the nation's four battleships - the only warships equipped with the massive, 1940s-vintage guns - received word of the new guidelines over the weekend. Chief of Naval Operations Carlisle A.H. Trost issued the new orders before results of the Navy's investigation of the Iowa blast, which killed 47 sailors, reached senior leaders at the Pentagon.

That investigation has focused on human factors as the likeliest causes of the explosion, rather than on structural flaws that might pose continuing danger, knowledgeable defense officials said. Rear Adm. Richard D. Milligan is directing that investigation, whose findings were called "inconclusive" by one knowledgeable Pentagon official. Suicide by a member of the gun crew is being considered as one possible cause.

During the investigation, Navy officials have emphasized the guns' long record of firing without incident.